9. Menu Kamakǝ

This piece is part of the Friday morning service and is also performed during funerals. On both occasions text and melody are identical. The prayer opens with overall praise of God. The explicit ground for such praise is that He is the source of renewal. His mercy is then requested. The prayer ends by stating that God is holy and just and that no-one can be compared to Him.

This piece has one section in which two melodies succeed one another in the hemiola pattern. As it is often the case in the liturgy of the Beta Israel, the soloist’s formula in position 3 in the hemiola cycle – and therefore the mirror formula sung by the choir in position 6 – are longer and end on the finalis, giving these positions a cadential character.